Escrow Policy

When a venue accepts an artist's booking, the agreed fee is captured into an escrow balance. The artist sees the booking as funded and treats it as confirmed. Until release, neither party can withdraw the money.

Escrow is not a deposit-only system: by default the full performance fee is held. Partial schedules (e.g. 50% on confirmation, 50% on the day) are available for longer-running engagements — both sides must agree to the schedule when the booking is signed.

While escrow is funded, the chat thread between artist and venue stays open. Either party can request changes (date, set length, members on stage); changes require both sides to re-confirm before they take effect.

If the event happens as agreed and neither party flags a problem within 48 hours of the event end time, the funds are released automatically to the artist on the next business day.

Either party can release early by marking the booking as completed on their side; if both confirm, funds release immediately.

If the event is cancelled by mutual agreement, the funds are returned to the venue in full and the booking is closed.

If either party flags a problem during the 48-hour release window, the booking enters dispute. Funds stay in escrow and ShowFlow opens a review.

Both parties are asked for a written statement of what happened, with any supporting evidence (photos, recordings, chat history). Reviews aim to resolve within 7 business days.

Outcomes can be: full release to the artist, full refund to the venue, or a partial split. The decision is shared with both parties in writing.

Venue-initiated cancellation: a venue cancelling more than 14 days before the event is refunded in full. Between 14 and 3 days, 50% is forfeited to the artist as a cancellation fee. Within 72 hours, the full fee is forfeited.

Artist-initiated cancellation: an artist cancelling at any point refunds the venue in full and forfeits the booking on their profile reliability score.

Force majeure: if the event cannot happen because of circumstances beyond either party's control (natural disaster, government order, sudden venue closure), funds are returned to the venue and no penalty is applied.

ShowFlow takes a platform commission on each booking; this is shown to both parties before the booking is confirmed. The commission is calculated on the gross fee and held back from the escrow release.

Payment-processing fees (card processing, bank transfer) are passed through at cost. No hidden margin on payment rails.